A GREEN team is urging families to follow in their footsteps to help the environment and save money after successfully cutting its own energy bills.

For a year, the Meadow Well Community Centre, in North Shields, has been generating its own electricity from solar panels through the Terra Nostra scheme.

The results show that more than £160 has been saved on the building’s energy bills and the carbon footprint has been slashed by over a tonne.

The 16 panels on the roof help to generate 2kw of electricity and over the year have provided 2,000kw hours that would otherwise have to be bought from the grid supply.

Dave Bell, a volunteer on the project, says families could use the same technology in their homes and benefit under the Government’s recently-announced feed-in tariffs.

Under the scheme, householders and businesses will be paid to generate their own electricity and will be able to sell back any excess electricity to the National Grid.

The tariffs are due to become operational in April. The rate ranges from around 29p to 42p per KW of electricity generated by a home or premises. In addition people will receive a minimum of 3p per KW of electricity exported back to the National Grid.

Mr Bell said: “The results have been very pleasing. The same setup on an average house would cover half of its energy needs.

“More importantly, using the feed-in tariffs, this could mean the payment of 42p per KW produced – £840 per year guaranteed for 25 years.”

The cost of installing one panel could be around £8,000, with an annual Government feed-in payment of £420. Two panels would cost £11,000, resulting in a yearly payment of £840.